Mail-pouch.



H. E. SMITH.

MAIL POUCH.

APPLICATION FliED JULY I. 1916.

1,230,93'Y. PatentedJune 26,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

rn: nomus PEYIR: ca. Human-m1. \lluumcmu. n. c

H, E. SMITH. MAiL Poucu.

APPLICATION FILED NH 1. l9l6.

Patented June 26, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- U TE STATES PATENT FFQ.

HERBERT E. SMITH, 0F SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, A'SSIGNOR TO THE SPOKANE MAIL EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

MAIL-POUCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 1917.

Application filed July 1, 1916. Serial No. 107,029.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT E. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of lVashington, have invented certa n new and useful Improvements in Mall- Pouches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in mail pouches and more particularly to the type known as catcher pouches for railway mail service and one of the essential features of the invention 1s to provide a double end supported pouch in which the strain of the catch with moving trains is divided at two points, whereby to cause less wear and tear upon the equipment and upon the pouch itself.

A further object of the invention resides in providing a pouch that may be readily caught and which will not contact with any of the catching devices.

Still another object of the invention resides in providing a pouch which is suspended and engaged at a point near each end and which point of exchange or catch will always remain the same, regardless of the amount of mail in the pouch.

A further object resides in providing a flexible connection extending through the pouch the same being rigidly secured to the pouch at one end of the latter and loosely connected with said pouch at the opposite end thereof.

A still further object resides in providing a device which is simple and durable in construction. inexpensive to manufacture and one which will be very eflicient and useful in operation.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in the specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device constructed in accordance 'with my invention and partially filled, thus retaining its normal length;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section therethrough, with the open end unclosed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a pouch filled with mail to capacity and disclosing the reduced length of the same in view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the flexible connections for engagement with the pouch to secure the same to the crane;

Fig. 5 is a detail section through the end member of the section shown in Fig. 4c and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the securing members in the section shown in Fig. 5.

In describing the invention, I shall refer to the drawings in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which 1 designates a leather body constructed as usual for catcher pouches used in railway mail service, the same having secured to one end thereof a disk-like bottom section 2 and the opposite end of the same being open and adapted to close by means of the ring like securing member 3, which forms the usual securing means.

The bottom section 2 of the pouch has a central opening therein and secured on the inner and outer faces of said section respectively are the leather or metal cup members 4 and 5. A cable 6 is extended through the cup members and opening just referred to and has a ball or the like 7 rigidly secured thereto and received in the chamber formed by said cup members, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The cable has a rigid securing engagement with said cup members by means of wires 8 which are wrapped tightly around the collar like ends of the cup members 4 and 5. Through the medium of this construction the cable has a rigid engagement with the bottom end of the pouch. The cable 6 extends also through a sleeve 9 provided at the opposite end of the pouch, as shown in Fig. 2, and the extreme ends of said cable are each provided with an eye 10. It will be seen from this construction that while said cable is rigidly secured to the pouch at one end, the same has loose connection with the opposite end of the pouch. The pouch is adapted to be engaged centrally by means of a strap member or the like 11 and when filled to capacity with mail, said pouch is adapted to be lessened in length with respect to cable 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. In view of the fact that the cable always remains the same length and the pouch only decreases in length according to the amount of mail therein, the point of exchange or catch will always remain the same. This is obviously an important feature.

I have provided catch sections 12 which consists of a cable or rope covered by. a metal wire which is Wrapped therearound for protection purposes. These cap sections areprovided at their one ends with snap-hooks 13 for engagement with the eyes 10 of the cable 6. These sections are de signed for engagement by the hooks of the crane or by the catching device upon the car and in order to prevent scratching or other damage to the varnish or paint on the car, the ends of said sections opposite the snap hooks are provided with conical shaped buffer-like members 14:. These members may be constructed of rubber, leather or some other semi-resilient material. The ends of the sections 12 are adapted to be secured in the sections 14 by means of a pair of collar members 15, the latter being substantially frusto-conical in design and having the inner faces thereof provided with prongs 16 for gripping the cable or rope, as the case may be. The ends of the sections 15 are flanged as shown at 17 and a ferrule 18 is adapted to be applied to the member 15 to secure the same against the cable. When these members 15 have been secured to the cable and properly inserted in the member 14: a screw 19 is introduced through the open or outer end of the section 1% and engaged with the cord or cable, as shown in Fig. 5, whereby to further secure said cord or cable in place. This screw provides a closure for theopen end of the section 1 1 and also looks the surplus cord or cable 6 against the flange 17 of the section 15.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple, inexpensive and efiicient means for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while I have particularly described the elements best adapted to perform the functions set forth, it is obvious that various changes in the form, proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or sacriflcing any of the principles of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

1. A mail pouch comprising a flexible body having a closed bottom and an open upper end adapted to be drawn closed, a flexible connection extending therethrough having rigid connection with the bottom and looseconnection with the opposite end thereof, and means adapted for engagement with the flexible connection to support the pouch in position.

2. A mail pouch comprising a body having a bottom and an open upper end adapted to be drawn into -closed position, a cable section extending therethrough and having eyes at the ends thereof, said cable section being securely engaged with the bottom of the pouch and slidably engaged with the opposite end of said pouch, and means adapted for engagement with the eyes of said cable to support the pouch in position.

3. A mail pouch comprising a flexible body having a disk like bottom and an open upper end adapted to be closed by drawing in the body, a cable extending through said pouch and having eyes at the ends thereof, said cable being rigidly secured to the bot tom of said pouch, a sleeve secured in the opposite end of the pouch loosely receiving said cable therethrough, and means engaging the eyes of the cable for supporting the pouch in position.

4. A mail pouch comprising a flexible body having a bottom section and an open end adapted to be closed by drawing in the flexible body, the bottom being provided with a central opening, a flexible connection extending through the pouch and through the opening in the bottom thereof, cup members secured to said bottom on each side of the opening therein, a ball secured on said flexible connection and received in the chamber formed by said cup members, whereby to rigidly secure the flexible connection to said bottom, means for loosely engaging the flexible connection with the opposite ends of the pouch, and means engaging the ends of the flexible connection, whereby to support th pouch in position.

5. A mail pouch comprising a flexible body having a bottom thereon, a cable extending through said pouch and rigidly secured to the bottom thereof, said cable having loose sliding connection with the opposite end of said pouch,eyes formed on the ends of said cable, catcher sections adapted to be removably' engaged with said eyes for supporting the pouch, and buffer sections secured to the outer'ends of said catcher sections.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HERBERT E. SMITH.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 13.0. i 

